A Children’s Hearing is a legal meeting arranged to consider and make decisions about children and young people who are having problems in their lives and who may need legal steps to be taken to help them. Children’s Hearings are held in private and only those people who have a legal right to be there, or are allowed to be there by the chairperson, will be present.
The purpose of a children’s hearing is to make the right decision for the child.
A child may be referred to a Hearing for a number of reasons, where they are:
A referral can be made to the Children’s Reporter by anyone who has concerns about the child. The Reporter may investigate these concerns and gather information from the child and their family and from professionals involved with the family, such as school, social work, housing, drug and alcohol workers and health care. If the Reporter believes that there is sufficient evidence to support a Ground for Referral and that compulsory measures of supervision would be in the child’s best interests, then they will refer the child to a Children’s Hearing.
Those entitled to attend the Hearing
Others attending the Hearing:
The parent is an automatic ” Relevant Person” for the purposes of the Hearing; others may be deemed to be Relevant Persons provided they meet a legal test, namely that they have or have recently had significant involvement in the upbringing of the child. This has to be over and above attending to the child’s day to day needs and is decided individually in each case. Therefore, a Kinship Carer could be deemed a Relevant Person, depending on the circumstances.
A Relevant Person has legal rights to support their participation in the process, these include the right to:
The Children’s Hearing
The Hearing is an opportunity for professionals, the child and the family to talk about what is happening in the child’s life, what is working well and where support is needed. The family and panel members will receive reports from the professionals several days in advance of the Hearing and so will know what is likely to be discussed. The Hearing will only put in place an Order where it is better for them to do so than not to and the welfare of the child is their paramount consideration. It is essential that the child can participate in the proceedings and that their views are heard and taken into account by the panel members. Therefore a Child Advocate or Safeguarder may be appointed to assist with this. In some cases, where appropriate, the brothers and sisters of the child will have an opportunity to make their views known to the Hearing either in writing or in person.
Where a Hearing is convened, Grounds for Referral will be put to the Relevant Persons and the child, where the child is believed to have the capacity to understand. If the Grounds are accepted, the Hearing will proceed. If the Grounds are not accepted or not understood by the child or Relevant Persons, then the Hearing will need to refer these to the Sheriff if they wish to discuss them. Where the Sheriff decides that the Grounds are accurate, they will be established and the Reporter will arrange another Hearing for these to be considered.
Only once the Grounds are accepted by everyone or established by the Sheriff can a discussion take place at a Hearing.
The Hearing can decide to make a Compulsory Supervision Order (CSO) to be implemented by the Local Authority and which will provide for the child’s treatment, guidance, control and protection.
The CSO may contain measures, for example, regarding where the child will live and whether the child will have contact with a parent or a sibling (you can view the video below which considers parental contact in Kinship Care). A CSO can last for a maximum for a year but can be reviewed within that time.
In this video, Linda, our Helpline advisor, and Rhona Pollock, the KCASS legal consultant, talk about Children’s Hearings and what they mean for Kinship families and their children. They also share some insights on how the child’s views can be expressed and respected, and how Kinship Carers and the system can support this process.
For further information you can visit the Scottish Children’s reporter Administration website which has information specifically for Kinship families: Stay Connected (scra.gov.uk)
Kinship Carers are often involved in facilitating contact between the child in their care with one or both of their parents. Where the contact is facilitated by a third party or the Kinship Carers of the child, parental contact can impact the whole family.
KCASS delivered an information session for Kinship Carers on Managing Parental Contact in Kinship Care. For those who were unable to attend the session our legal consultant Anne Currie recorded her presentation and you can view this informative video above.
Anne explores parental contact in Kinship Care and considers the purpose of the contact, risks and benefits of contact and provides Kinship Carers with advice and tips on how to manage contact.
A CSO does not offer long term security for the child or your family. There are other Orders which can be granted by the Court which provide a legal sense of Permanence.
A solicitor will be able to give you the information which you will need to understand the implications of each of these Orders. They will offer independent advice and assistance to support you in deciding which Order will be most appropriate for the individual circumstances of your family.
Kinship Care Order (KCO) – sometimes this may be referred to as a section 11 order or a residence order. It is your decision as to whether you wish to make this application and you should never feel under pressure to pursue this unless you believe it to be the best course of action for you and the child. You will require to make an application for a KCO to the Sheriff Court. An application can be made only by a person who:
The Local Authority may help with the cost of applying for a Kinship Care Order and the amount of assistance available will vary among the 32 Local Authorities.
It is important that you are clear about what financial assistance will be available to you before you start proceedings so you know what to expect. Once the KCO is granted a parent may appeal that decision. They are entitled to ask for it to be reviewed or removed at a later date on any number of occasions. Again, there must be clarity between you and your Local Authority as to what legal expenses they will meet in those circumstances.
A Kinship Care Order can ensure a more stable care arrangement for the child. You will acquire some or all the Parental Rights and Responsibilities (PRRs) under a KCO; however, the child’s parents may retain some of the PRRs that they held before the KCO was granted. Having PRR’S will allow you to make a range of decisions in relation to a child’s day to day life. Such as:
Once a Kinship Care Order has been granted the child is no longer “Looked After” by a Local Authority and there may be no further social work involvement with the child. The child will not automatically be entitled to Continuing Care and After Care when they reach the age of 16 if they are no longer a looked after child. A KCO may continue until the child is 16 years of age and in exceptional cases, until they are 18. The Local Authority must provide information and advice to those seeking, holding or subject to a Kinship Care Order.
Where you are considering applying for a KCO, you may want clarity in the following:
Permanence Order (PO) –
Only a Local Authority can apply for a PO and will do so to the Court. A PO has the effect of removing form the parents their PRRs and vesting them in the Local Authority. Some of these PRRs may be given by the Court to the kinship carers or shared with the Local Authority. It is, however, the Local Authority that decides where the child will live.
Where a PO is the route to permanence you may want clarification as to what PRRs the Court is being asked to grant to you and which rights and responsibilities might be delegated to you by the Local Authority. You will want a clear picture of what day to day decisions you can make and how much ongoing involvement by the Local Authority is likely in the child’s upbringing.
The legal status of the child remains “Looked After”, and a supervising social worker remains in place.
Adoption Order –
Where the child has lived with you for at least 13 weeks you may apply to the Court to adopt the child. You will require to go through the adoption assessment process to ascertain your suitability as an adopter and furthermore, if you can meet the needs of the child.
You may instruct a solicitor to act on your behalf in what is a private law matter.
It is important that you are clear about the likely costs of this route to permanence and whether the Local Authority is willing to make a contribution to this.
In this video, Linda, the KCASS helpline adviser and Rhona Pollock, the KCASS legal consultant discuss legal orders particularly Kinship Care orders and what this order may mean for Kinship families. They will also discuss contact arrangements within these orders and consider permanence for the child.
For more information on legal orders which may be in place for the child in your care you can read our factsheet understanding legal orders here: http://kinship.scot/ download/understanding-legal-orders-2/ or you can request a copy.
For information about Kinship Care arrangements where any of the family live in a different country please visit the Children and Families Across Borders website, https://www.cfab.org.uk/
Law Society of Scotland Website where you can carry out an online search for solicitors in your area that specialise in children’s law https://www.lawscot.org.uk/
The Scottish Child Law Centre provides free legal help and advice about the law and children’s rights to children, young people, parents, carers and professionals. The contact details are:
Adviceline: 0131 667 6333, Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.00pm
Freephone for under 21s: 0800 328 8970 (landlines) or 0300 330 1421 (mobiles)
Email: enquiries@sclc.org.uk
Legal advice email: advice@sclc.org.uk
Website: www.sclc.org.uk
Clan Childlaw is Scotland’s law centre for children and young people they protect and strengthen children’s rights and improve their lives. The contact details are:
Tel: 0808 129 0522 (freephone)
Text: 07527 566682 (texts will be charged at the normal network rate)
Email: info@clanchildlaw.org
Website: www.clanchildlaw.org
We have a legal consultant Rhona Pollock of KCASS who offers legal support to the organisation, you can watch Rhona and a panel of legal consultants answer questions put to them by Kinship Carers here:
